Conjugations
All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to find.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retrouve | I find | |
| tu | retrouves | you find | |
| il / elle / on | retrouve | he / she / it findson: we find / one finds | |
| nous | retrouvons | we find | |
| vous | retrouvez | you find | |
| ils / elles | retrouvent | they find |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul retrouve ses clés sous la table.
Paul finds his keys under the table.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai retrouvé | I found | |
| tu | as retrouvé | you found | |
| il / elle / on | a retrouvé | he / she / it foundon: we found / one found | |
| nous | avons retrouvé | we found | |
| vous | avez retrouvé | you found | |
| ils / elles | ont retrouvé | they found |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a retrouvé ses clés sous la table.
Yesterday, Paul found his keys under the table.
The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retrouvais | I used to find | |
| tu | retrouvais | you used to find | |
| il / elle / on | retrouvait | he / she / it used to findon: we used to find / one used to find | |
| nous | retrouvions | we used to find | |
| vous | retrouviez | you used to find | |
| ils / elles | retrouvaient | they used to find |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul retrouvait ses clés sous la table.
Back then, Paul used to find his keys under the table.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retrouverai | I will find | |
| tu | retrouveras | you will find | |
| il / elle / on | retrouvera | he / she / it will findon: we will find / one will find | |
| nous | retrouverons | we will find | |
| vous | retrouverez | you will find | |
| ils / elles | retrouveront | they will find |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul retrouvera ses clés sous la table.
Later, Paul will find his keys under the table.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retrouverais | I would find | |
| tu | retrouverais | you would find | |
| il / elle / on | retrouverait | he / she / it would findon: we would find / one would find | |
| nous | retrouverions | we would find | |
| vous | retrouveriez | you would find | |
| ils / elles | retrouveraient | they would find |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul retrouverait ses clés sous la table.
Paul would find his keys under the table.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | retrouve | (that) I find | |
| tu | retrouves | (that) you find | |
| il / elle / on | retrouve | (that) he / she / it findson: (that) we find / one finds | |
| nous | retrouvions | (that) we find | |
| vous | retrouviez | (that) you find | |
| ils / elles | retrouvent | (that) they find |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul retrouve ses clés sous la table.
It is possible that Paul finds his keys under the table.
French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”
Meaning & usage
- to find (again); to rediscover
- to remember; to recall
- to meet; to meet up; to bump into
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations